Watch Barihunks Edwin Crossley-Mercer and Mattia Olivieri at Berlin AIDS Gala

Mattia Olivieri & Edwin Crossley-Mercer at Berlin AIDS Gala

On November 5th, barihunk Edwin Crossley-Mercer performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin's 22nd Grand Opera Gala in support of the AIDS Foundation. The event also features fellow barihunks Andrea Mastroni and Mattia Olivieri, as well as soprano Patrizia Ciofi, tenor Gregory Kunde and a host of other operatic luminaries.

Of course, we had to post our favorite barihunks for your viewing pleasure. If you speak German, you will enjoy the humorous introductions by legendary bandleader and singer Max Raabe.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer sings Mozart's "Madamina il catalogo è questo delle bello"

Michael Spyres & Edwin Crossley-Mercer sing Bizet's "Au fond du temple saint":

Mattia Olivieri sings Rossini's "Largo al factotum della città!":

Crossley-Mercer is so popular with our readers that we asked him to appear in our upcoming 2017 "Barihunks in Bed" calendar, which he graciously agreed to do. We hired a photographer in France to take a photo and made him our December feature, since his stunning prematurely gray hair evoked a perfect wintry night. You can purchase a copy ONLINE.

Glenn Seven Allen & Edwin Crossley-Mercer

Introducing Barihunk Malcolm Ulbrick

Malcolm Ulbrick

Back in November we posted about Rossini's Barber of Seville at the Boulder Opera Company with barihunks Andrew Potter, Michael Travis Risner and Garrett Smith. Potter and Risner are both returning for their upcoming performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni, with Risner as the stage director and Potter as the Commendatore.

Featured in the title role will be Malcolm Ulbrick, who is new to this site. When Ulbrick is not performing, he works as both a personal trainer/strength coach and a vocal coach. He received his Masters in Music from the University of Colorado, where he performed performed as Billy Bigelow in Carousel, Olin Blitch in Susannah, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress, Gideon March in Little Women and Marcello in La boheme. He recently performed in Handel’s Messiah with the Messiah Choral Society of Grand Junction, Colorado. He also directed the children's performance of The Barber of Seville with Boulder Opera.

Andrew Potter and Michael Travis Risner

Performances of Don Giovanni will be at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder on April 15th, the Broomfield Auditorium: on April 16th and the Dickens Opera House in Longmont on April 22nd. For tickets and more information: http://www.boulderoperacompany.com/don-giovanni/

Barihunk trio in Kansas City's Don Giovanni

Daniel Okulitch as Don Giovanni at NY City Opera

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City is opening its 58th season with Mozart’s Don Giovanni featuring the barihunk trio of Daniel Okulitch in the title role, Joshua Bloom as Leporello and Rhys Lloyd Talbot as Masetto. Performances are on September 26 and 30 and October 2 and 4 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are available online. 

The trio are also all alumni of the prestigious Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, with Daniel Okulitch taking part in 2002, Joshua Bloom in 2001 and 2003, and Rhys Lloyd Talbot in 2013 and 2014. Elizabeth Caballero, their Donna Elvira, was in the program with both Okulitch and Bloom. 

After Don Giovanni, Bloom will portray The Pirate King in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance in October at both Théâtre de Caen and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg. Okulitch will head to the Manitoba Opera where he will sing Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Talbot just completed the Young Artist program at Glimmerglass where he performed the Speaker/Second Priest in Mozart's The Magic Flute and the Apparition in Verdi's Macbeth.

Damian Pass & Pietro De Bianco in Don Giovanni

Pietro Di Bianco as Leporello

Damian Pass as Masetto

We recently introduced Italian barihunk Pietro Di Bianco to readers and mentioned that he's performing Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Atelier Lyrique with fellow barihunk Damian Pass, who is singing Masetto. Performances run from March 22-29, but we just received photos from the dress rehearsals, which we wanted to share. Additional information is available online.

Di Bianco will reprise the role of Leporello on July 5 and 7 at the Anthéa Antipolis Théâtre d'Antibes. Pass will be is singing Masetto in Don Giovanni at the Opera of Toulon from May 20-27.

Barihunks and Mariusz Kwiecien together in The Telegraph

We're big fans of music critic Rupert Christiansen in The Telegraph, so we were thrilled when his profile on über-barihunk Mariusz Kwiecien included a link to our site and a mention in the headline. Christiansen goes on to write:

"...another erotic phenomenon in classical music has gone wild on the internet: the cult of “the barihunk”. Its pitch is that the more palpitating charm in opera emanates not from purveyors of high Cs but gym-buffed baritones with smouldering voices to match their six-pack abs."

We love being included in an article on Mariusz Kwiecien, since he was the original inspiration to create the site. Early discussions were actually about creating a Kwiecien fan site, but it seemed too limiting and casting a wider net seemed much more interesting.

Mariusz Kwiecien as Don Giovanni (photo: Bill Cooper)

Kwiecien has just opened at the Royal Opera House in Kasper Holten's amazing production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, which we recently previewed. The cast also includes barihunks Alex Esposito as his sidekick Leporello and the thrilling Alexander Tsymbalyuk as the Commendatore.

The entire run is sold out through the final performance on February 24th. Don't fret if you missed buying tickets, as the February 12th performance will be broadcast live to cinemas in Europe. and taped for screenings worldwide throughout March. If you're in Europe, check the Royal Opera House website for listings. If you're outside of Europe, check your local movie listings.

Kwiecien will appear next at the Vienna State Opera in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin from March 7-14, before returning to the Metropolitan Opera from April 17-May 10 in Bellini's I Puritani.

Barihunk trio in new ROH production of Don Giovanni; Worldwide Broadcast

Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Alex Esposito & Mariusz Kwiecien (L-R)

Perhaps the hottest opera ticket in Europe right now is Kasper Holten's new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House. Most performances are either sold out or close to it with opening night still a month away.

The dream cast is led by a trio of our favorite barihunks, Mariusz Kwiecien as Don Giovanni, Alex Esposito as his sidekick Leporello and the thrilling Alexander Tsymbalyuk as the Commendatore. Holten shifts the emphasis from Don Giovanni’s sex life into a darker place, as this production presents Giovanni’s womanizing as an attempt to stave off his own mortality. Each woman he seduces represents a life he could have had.

If you can't make it to London, the February 12th performance will be broadcast live to cinemas in Europe. and taped for screenings worldwide throughout March. If you're in Europe, check the Royal Opera House website for listings. If you're outside of Europe, check your local movie listings.

There are only 48 hours left to buy your 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar, so order NOW by clicking below. We'll be announcing our newest recipients of our grants from the proceeds next week.